This PPV didn't disappoint me. In fact, I was very pleased with it. The only bad thing was that Vince McMahon booked himself and his son Shane in a fight against HBK and GOD almighty which I found offensive. Now let me say a few words about the matches on the card:
Match #1 - Carlito vs Chris Masters - I really liked the feud that developed between this two young athletes in the past couple of weeks. Some funny promos took place on RAw in that time. The match was really good. Carlito's head took a big bump after he hit a corner pad with his head when Masters performed a powerbomb like move, but it didn't stop Carlito to win this match. He used a backcracker to put down Masters and used his feet on the ropes for leverage for the victory. I've got a feeling that Carlito might be the new 'Dirtiest player in the game'. Crowd loves him even when he does illegal moves. Anyway a really good opener. 7/10
Match #2 - Umaga vs Ric Flair - this was basically a squash match where Ric Flair jobbed like never before. In under 4 minutes he falls victim to Umaga who stays undefeated (although in 2002/03 under gimmick of Jamal he got beat on many occasions - but I guess new character means new person ... oh well). I was really sorry to see Nature Boy get beat like this. Maybe it's a sign of his retirement closing. 2/10
Match #3 - Mickie James vs Trish Stratus (women championship) - unfortunately it is hard to judge this match because in the opening minutes Trish dislocated her right shoulder and I'm not sure that Trish winning by DQ was supposed to be the ending of this match. Anyway I rate it 5/10 because they are WWE divas - most beautiful women in the world and I have no heart to give them a lower grade.
Match #4 - Shelton Benjamin vs Rob Van Dam (intercontintental championship/ Money in the Bank) - both MITB briefcase and intercontinental championship were on the line - after 18 minutes of a great battle RVD hits his Van Daminator to send briefcase right into Shelton's head which he followed by a beautiful 5 star frog splash. Winner and the new Intercontinental champion Rob Van Dam. 9/10
Match #5 - Big Show vs Kane - this match went to a no contest because WWE is promoting a movie starring Kane so now Kane hears some voices in his head telling him about May 19th and something that happened on that date. Voices came over the loudspeakers and the lights in the arena went red - Kane fell on the ground holding his head trying to stop the voices - Big Show took a chair and hit Kane in the head with it to 'put him out of his misery' and then walked out. 3/10
Match #6 - Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon vs Shawn Michaels & GOD (no holds barred match) - Vince changed the stipulation of the match to 'no holds barred right before it started. Although I hate this mocking of GOD the match had some nice spots - after ramming Shane's head into Backlash sign Shawn used crossbody to take himself and Vince to fall down to a lower meters. Although they landed on soft spot it was very nice because they fell down from some 5 meters of height. (I know it's no fall from the top of the cell but still...). In the end HBK laid out both Vince and Shane down in the ring and set up 20 foot ladder trying to perform the same thing he did at Wrestlemania 22 but unfortunately all 5 members of the Spirit Squad came out and beat on Shawn and slammed him through the table allowing Vince to cover HBK for the win. A very nice match 8/10
Match #7 - John Cena vs Edge vs Triple H (WWE championship triple threat) - this was an awesome and brutal match - The first highlight of this match was Cena hoisting up both men on his shoulders at the same time for F-U but he couldn't connect. After that Edge performed his impaler DDT on Triple H on the Spanish announce table (always Spanish ...) and then rammed his head into the steel post which busted HHH open. HHH retaliated with a massive chair shot. Then he went to the ring to attack Cena but he retaliated with the STF-U submission hold but HHH got to the ropes. Cena then tried to use the same submission maneuver on Edge but before he tapped, Triple H stopped his hand and then whacked Cena with the microphone. After some recuperating Cena tried to perform his F-U finisher on Edge on the top rope but HHH came underneath Cena and took both of them down. He then tried to perform Pedigree but Cena reversed it into the jack-knife pin for the victory. Winner and still WWE champion John Cena. A great match 9/10
Aftermath - HHH couldn't bear with the fact that he lost so he whacked both Edge and Cena with sledgehammer to finish of this PPV.
Match #1 - Carlito vs Chris Masters - I really liked the feud that developed between this two young athletes in the past couple of weeks. Some funny promos took place on RAw in that time. The match was really good. Carlito's head took a big bump after he hit a corner pad with his head when Masters performed a powerbomb like move, but it didn't stop Carlito to win this match. He used a backcracker to put down Masters and used his feet on the ropes for leverage for the victory. I've got a feeling that Carlito might be the new 'Dirtiest player in the game'. Crowd loves him even when he does illegal moves. Anyway a really good opener. 7/10
Match #2 - Umaga vs Ric Flair - this was basically a squash match where Ric Flair jobbed like never before. In under 4 minutes he falls victim to Umaga who stays undefeated (although in 2002/03 under gimmick of Jamal he got beat on many occasions - but I guess new character means new person ... oh well). I was really sorry to see Nature Boy get beat like this. Maybe it's a sign of his retirement closing. 2/10
Match #3 - Mickie James vs Trish Stratus (women championship) - unfortunately it is hard to judge this match because in the opening minutes Trish dislocated her right shoulder and I'm not sure that Trish winning by DQ was supposed to be the ending of this match. Anyway I rate it 5/10 because they are WWE divas - most beautiful women in the world and I have no heart to give them a lower grade.
Match #4 - Shelton Benjamin vs Rob Van Dam (intercontintental championship/ Money in the Bank) - both MITB briefcase and intercontinental championship were on the line - after 18 minutes of a great battle RVD hits his Van Daminator to send briefcase right into Shelton's head which he followed by a beautiful 5 star frog splash. Winner and the new Intercontinental champion Rob Van Dam. 9/10
Match #5 - Big Show vs Kane - this match went to a no contest because WWE is promoting a movie starring Kane so now Kane hears some voices in his head telling him about May 19th and something that happened on that date. Voices came over the loudspeakers and the lights in the arena went red - Kane fell on the ground holding his head trying to stop the voices - Big Show took a chair and hit Kane in the head with it to 'put him out of his misery' and then walked out. 3/10
Match #6 - Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon vs Shawn Michaels & GOD (no holds barred match) - Vince changed the stipulation of the match to 'no holds barred right before it started. Although I hate this mocking of GOD the match had some nice spots - after ramming Shane's head into Backlash sign Shawn used crossbody to take himself and Vince to fall down to a lower meters. Although they landed on soft spot it was very nice because they fell down from some 5 meters of height. (I know it's no fall from the top of the cell but still...). In the end HBK laid out both Vince and Shane down in the ring and set up 20 foot ladder trying to perform the same thing he did at Wrestlemania 22 but unfortunately all 5 members of the Spirit Squad came out and beat on Shawn and slammed him through the table allowing Vince to cover HBK for the win. A very nice match 8/10
Match #7 - John Cena vs Edge vs Triple H (WWE championship triple threat) - this was an awesome and brutal match - The first highlight of this match was Cena hoisting up both men on his shoulders at the same time for F-U but he couldn't connect. After that Edge performed his impaler DDT on Triple H on the Spanish announce table (always Spanish ...) and then rammed his head into the steel post which busted HHH open. HHH retaliated with a massive chair shot. Then he went to the ring to attack Cena but he retaliated with the STF-U submission hold but HHH got to the ropes. Cena then tried to use the same submission maneuver on Edge but before he tapped, Triple H stopped his hand and then whacked Cena with the microphone. After some recuperating Cena tried to perform his F-U finisher on Edge on the top rope but HHH came underneath Cena and took both of them down. He then tried to perform Pedigree but Cena reversed it into the jack-knife pin for the victory. Winner and still WWE champion John Cena. A great match 9/10
Aftermath - HHH couldn't bear with the fact that he lost so he whacked both Edge and Cena with sledgehammer to finish of this PPV.